


All that glitters

by Korpikaazi



Category: Metalocalypse
Genre: Child Neglect, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Running Away, Young Skwisgaar, Young Toki
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-17 21:02:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10602165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Korpikaazi/pseuds/Korpikaazi
Summary: Young Skwisgaar visits Toki's house to find out why he hasn't been at school all week...





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this was supposed to be part of the 30 kisses drabbles I've been writing but by the time it had reached 5 pages long I figured it was a bit too much for a drabble! So I took it out and played with it and it sort of ended up as its own thing, but it's a complete stand alone, no beginning or explanations, no real ending, and pretty AU, so there's a chance it only makes sense in my own head.  
> Also, it felt very weird to write them speaking without accents - it wouldn't be logical given the setting, but their unique ways of speaking have become such a part of their character for me that I found it an interesting exercise in writing in character without it.  
> Completely unbeta'd so inevitable mistakes will be there, for which I apologise in advance.  
> Poor Toki, I do love torturing him so XD

Skwisgaar tapped his pen idly on the side of the table, ignoring the irritated looks his teacher was giving him. English was a dumb subject anyway. His attention wandered out of the window, watching the snow fall thickly onto the already coated ground. At times like this, he found himself missing Stockholm and its mildly warmer winters.

As the teacher droned on about irregular verbs in English (there were just _so many_ , stupid language), Skwisgaar switched his attention over to the clock hanging above the door. Five minutes of this dull hell left before the weekend. The moment the bell sounded to signify the end of the lesson, the Swede threw his bag over his shoulder and strode out of the door, ignoring the sound of the teacher calling him back. The worst they would do is call his mother, which this being a Friday night, held no threat of repercussions. She’d have no memories of any phone calls by the time she stumbled home in the early hours of Monday morning.

As he sauntered down the stairs from the school doors towards the main road into town, he hesitated for a moment. Toki hadn’t turned up at school since Monday and Skwisgaar had actually been missing his company. It wasn’t like Toki to miss school – the weirdo seemed to actually enjoy attending that boring hell hole – and he wanted to check if he was alright.

Toki’s parents didn’t keep a phone in their house, so at the foot of the steps, Skwisgaar came to the quick decision to turn right towards where he knew Toki lived, rather than left towards the town. He’d never been to Toki’s house before, but the kid had once told Skwisgaar that he lived in the only house behind the church. When Skwisgaar had first moved to Lillehammer, his mother had dragged there to ‘make a good impression with the locals’, (a ploy that had lasted all of one week), so he had at least a vague idea of where to go.

By the time he reached the imposing stone structure, the sun was beginning to dip below the tree line of the forests that surrounded Lillehammer. Skwisgaar supressed a shudder as his breath fogged in front of him. Something about the church – and the peculiar reverend – made his skin crawl.

Narrowing his eyes, Skwisgaar trudged determinedly through the snow covered ground to the little used track that ran past the back of the church. He was Skwisgaar Skwigelf dammit, he wasn’t afraid of anything. Even Toki’s creepy parents.

Although he didn’t know the exact way to Toki’s house from the church, the snow covering the ground actually helped him out for once. Sets of repeated footsteps tracked towards the back door of the church, indicating where the path would be were it not hidden by six inches of snow. Skwisgaar picked his way along the track as the sun sank further below the horizon. He was beginning to wish that he’d thought to bring a torch with him.

Eventually, he caught sight of a warm yellow light in the distance. As he neared it, he saw that it was coming from the window of a large wooden cabin at the end of the track. Snow adorned the eaves of the beautiful home like icing on a gingerbread house. Skwisgaar couldn’t help but think about the tale he’d years before in Sweden of the foolish child who was snatched by the witch that lived in the house made of sweets. He silently berated himself for the fear stirring in his belly. Toki’s father was a reverend for goodness sakes, not an evil fairy tale witch.

Despite his self-insistence that he was in no way afraid, Skwisgaar found himself tapping out guitar riffs against his thigh as he knocked on the solid wooden door. He was loath to admit that part of him hoped that no one would come to answer his knocking. Eventually, however, the heavy door swung easily open, not squeaking on its hinges as part of him had been expecting. Behind it stood a tall, grim woman wrapped in a large cloak that Skwisgaar assumed must be Toki’s mother. He swallowed thickly.

“Uh… hello Mrs Wartooth… I was wondering if I could maybe…” Skiwsgaar stumbled on his words, his confident grasp on Norwegian suddenly abandoning him, “…uh, Toki?” he finished lamely.

For a moment, the woman simply stared at Skwisgaar, her cold blue eyes so alike and yet so different to Toki’s. Then, with a swish of black cloak, she disappeared down the hall, leaving Skwisgaar hovering awkwardly on the doorstep wondering whether that was an invitation to come in or a curt dismissal.

Just as Skwisgaar was about to give up and walk away, (that dildo Toki was certainly not worth this shit), the Reverend Wartooth appeared in the doorway. He looked down at Skwisgaar, who subconsciously smoothed his growing hair back.

“Ah, you must be Skwisgaar,” the Reverend said, the lines around his eyes creasing as he smiled down. “Please, come in, you must be frozen in this snow.”

Skwisgaar entered gratefully, his confidence returning. He felt vaguely foolish as he removed his boots by the front door for being so nervous – Toki was always so carefree and cheerful at school that his there’s no way his parents were the evil monsters his imagination had invented. Perhaps his mum was just shy or something.

Following Toki’s father into the kitchen, Skwisgaar sat at the plain wooden table as indicated. The reverend sat opposite him and nodded at him. “The weather is very bitter tonight, is it not?” he said, before continuing without waiting for an answer. “Anja, fetch us some tea.”

Skwisgaar jumped slightly as the reverend’s wife emerged from the shadows behind him. He had had no idea she was even in the room with them. While she busied herself at the stove with an ancient copper kettle, Skwisgaar chanced a glance around the room. There were very few items in the pristine but rustic room; a basket of potatoes sat on the countertop and a large wooden cross adorned the wall above the sink, but other than that the room was pretty bare.

“So, Skwisgaar,” the reverend’s voice brought Skwisgaar’s focus back, “I am guessing you are here about Toki?”

Skwisgaar nodded, tucking his hair behind his ear. “Yes – uh,” sir? Father? Mr Wartooth? “Reverend.”

Two cups of black tea were silently placed on the table in front of them before Toki’s mother disappeared into the shadows again.

“It is very thoughtful of you to come all this way out to visit our son, but I’m afraid you have wasted your journey. I wish we could have saved you the effort.”

“What do you –“

“Toki is not here right now,” the reverend continued. Skwisgaar suddenly felt like an intruder so he grabbed his tea and sipped it to distract himself. It was bitter and scaldingly hot but he drank it regardless, waiting for Toki’s father to elaborate on his statement.

“Toki’s uncle lives in Nordland but recently we found out that his health has been suffering. As Anja and I cannot make the journey with our commitments to the congregation, Toki went in our stead. I am sorry that he did not tell you that he was leaving, it would have saved you a long walk.”

“Oh. Uh, okay then.” Skwisgaar put his half empty mug down on the table, feeling awkward once more. “Do you… uh, do you know when he will be back at school?”

Toki’s father smiled again, leaning forward and patting Skwisgaar’s hand lightly. “He should be back by the end of next week. I guess you are missing him then?”

Skwisgaar laughed slightly. “It’s pretty dull at school without him I guess. And it leaves me no one to do my maths homework for me!”

The reverend laughed. Skwisgaar did not.

“I… should not take up any more of your time. Thank you for the tea.” Skwisgaar stood up suddenly, his chair wobbling slightly on its legs.

Toki’s father also rose more gracefully from the table. “It is dark now, child. Would you like us to walk you back home?”

Skwisgaar shook his head as he gathered his boots from the hall. “No, thank you very much, my mum is going to meet me in town,” he lied quickly.

“Alright, Skwisgaar,” the reverend said, opening the heavy front door. “At least the snow seems to have stopped. Have a safe journey back to town.”

Skwisgaar shook the hand that was proffered. It was cold.

When he heard the door close behind him, the teenager risked a glance back. The snow dusted fairytale house glittered in the white light of the moon. What a strange place.

Without knowing what drew his eye, Skwisgaar looked up towards the windows on the second floor. His heart lurched as he looked at the far right room. Pressed against the glass was a face he knew well. Frosty blue eyes so similar and yet so different to his parents’.

“What the…”

Suddenly the eyes went wide and the face disappeared from the window. Not wanting to be caught watching, Skwisgaar took off at the best run he could manage through the thick snow.

*

A quick scout down the high street of Lillehammer brought Skwisgaar to an oddjob store where he bought a small battery powered torch and on impulse, a pack of candy bars. Stuffing all but one of the bars into his schoolbag, he set off back towards Toki’s house, torch lighting his way and candy bar filling his empty stomach. He had skulked around the streets of Lillehammer for a few hours in the hope that by the time he got back to Toki’s house, his parents would be asleep. They seemed like the early to bed sort of people.

With a triumphant smile, Skwisgaar noticed when he approached it that all the lights in the gingerbread house were turned off. Switching off his torch just in case, he skirted the side of the house until he was standing in front of the window he’d seen the face at hours earlier. Crouching down, he scooped a handful of snow into his gloved hand. Heart pounding, he lobbed it up towards the window.

_Thud_

He held his breath, waiting to see if the face would appear at the window again.

It didn’t.

Shit.

Alright, one more try. Skwisgaar scooped up another handful of snow and threw it, harder this time. Again, it landed on the window with a satisfying thump. This time, there was movement from the darkened room and once again, Skwisgaar saw Toki’s face pressing against the frosty pane of glass, his pale eyes as round as saucers. He held up a finger before fiddling with the catch on the window. Soon, it swung noiselessly open and Toki began to slide his skinny frame through the gap.

“Toki!” Skwisgaar hissed, “What are you –“

“Shhh!”

Skwisgaar thought he was going to have a heart attack as he watched Toki edge along the lip of the roof before shimmying down the drainpipe.

The moment Toki’s feet touched the snow covered ground, he launched himself at Skwisgaar, nearly knocking the Swede over as he grabbed him in a fierce embrace. Skwisgaar stood awkwardly, not sure what to do with this display of affection. Eventually, Toki relinquished his hold and stepped back slightly.

“What are you doing here, you mad Swede?” Toki whispered, still clutching Skwisgaar’s thin arms.

Skwisgaar raised a cynical eyebrow. “What are _you_ doing here? What happened to your Uncle in Nordland?”

Toki’s smile turned rueful. “So that’s the story they’re going with this time then?”

“Toki, what the hell is going on?”

Toki glanced nervously over his shoulder. “Not here,” he said, before grabbing Skwisgaar’s hand and dragging him into the trees that surrounded his home. Once they reached the shelter of the pines, he glanced over his shoulder and nodded, still clinging on to Skwisgaar’s hand.

Skwisgaar raised an eyebrow at him expectantly as Toki’s eyes darted around nervously. Clearly the young Norwegian wasn’t going to be forthcoming, so Skwisgaar decided to take charge.

“Toki, you don’t turn up at school all week, your parents make up a story about you being hundreds of kilometres away and you feel the need to risk your neck on the roof rather than using the front door. Want to tell me what the fuck’s up with all this?”

Toki cringed before looking up into Skwisgaar’s face. He nibbled at his lip nervously before starting to explain.

“I… My parents… Well, okay, so I screwed up. I was supposed to be sweeping the snow along the Church pass after school on Monday, but I got home late. I tried to rush to the end but Father noticed the shoddy job I’d done and realised that I hadn’t been home on time.”

Toki stopped and dropped eye contact with Skwisgaar, who stared at him in confusion. Sweeping snow? Who even does that?

“My parents questioned me about where I’d been. They… have a way of making me tell the truth. So I told them about our guitar lessons with Mr Amarth. They… how should I… they weren’t happy. They’ve told me time and time again that music is the devil’s way of getting into the minds of the young… but I don’t understand, how can something that feels so… well anyway, what happened is –“

Toki’s talking was interrupted by a low growling sound. Skwisgaar whipped his head around, his heart pumping, realising the stupidity of wandering into the woods in the middle of the Norwegian countryside. He shone his torch into the trees, the beam trembling slightly. Without thinking, he grasped Toki’s wrist, ready to tug him away.

“Uh… Skwis?”

He swung back to look at Toki, who wasn’t looking at all concerned, but was instead smiling embarrassedly, rubbing his neck with his free hand. “I, uh, I don’t think that’s a wolf,” he said with a small laugh. The low growling once again reverberated around the trees and Toki patted his belly lightly.

Skwisgaar’s eyes went wide before he let out a bark of laughter. “That’s your stomach? How long’s it been since you ate?”

Toki scrunched his face up for a moment as though thinking. “What is it – Friday? Must be a little over…three days ago.”

Skwisgaar’s laughter died on his lips. He had meant his comment as a flippant remark, but Toki’s dismissive response had dropped ice into his stomach. “Three days?!”  his voice cracked like it used to when it broke a couple of years earlier.

Toki pouted slightly. “I shouldn’t have told you that. Father’ll be so cross when he finds out.”

“Shit Toki… well he’s not gonna find out.”

“What do you mean? He always finds out. He’ll scol-mphhmphhh!”

Skwisgaar grinned smugly as he shoved one of the candy bars into Toki’s rambling mouth. The brunet quickly got over his surprise and scoffed the entire thing in one go, swallowing thickly.

“Thnnksh, Shvishgaar.”

Skwisgaar procured the other three candy bars and handed them to Toki, who smiled gratefully. The Swede felt a mixture of anger and sorrow well up inside him at the way Toki looked at the bars as though they were made of diamonds, before ravenously devouring them. How the hell could those monsters he’d spoken to so recently be treating Toki this way? It was sickening.

“Why haven’t you eaten in so long?”

Toki finished the last bar before answering. “I’d disobeyed my parents’ instructions, failed in my chores, and I let the devil in. I needed to be punished to cleanse the shame I’d brought to my family.” Toki said this mechanically, the words clearly drilled into him. “As part of my punishment, I’m only allowed to leave my room first thing in the morning to use the toilet and bathe. After that, I’m locked in to pray and reconsider my path. Mother decides when I eat.”

“Those bastards,” Skwisgaar ground out between his teeth. Toki flinched, but did not respond.

Unable to gather his thoughts, Skwisgaar turned away and stared through the trees at the obscured view he had of Toki’s fairytale house. The snow was still glittering in the moonlight on the eaves over the window Toki had squeezed himself through to get out.

Skwisgaar was pulled from his spiralling thoughts by a quiet groaning. He turned back to see that Toki had turned pale and sickly looking.

“Tokes? What’s the matter?”

Toki just shook his head and leaned over the nearest tree, retching disgustingly. Skwisgaar let out a mirthless laugh.

“I guess inhaling candy bars after days of not eating wasn’t the best idea…”

When he was done, Toki leaned shakily against the tree. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

Skwisgaar snorted. “Pfft, dumb Norwegians can’t even handle their own food,” he said without venom. He approached Toki and lay a hand on his trembling back. The moment he did, both boys gasped. Toki flinched away and Skwisgaar’s hand recoiled in horror.

“Toki… no… tell me they didn’t…”

The response was whispered. “I make them do it. I bring the evil home, they have to send it away. Every strike pushes it out. They’re saving me from the evil inside me.”

“That’s enough.” Skwisgaar’s words were cold and hard. “I’ve heard enough of this bullshit.”

Toki looked at him, his pale eyes wide and questioning.

“I’m getting you out of here. Tonight. Now. Mum’ll take you in. I’ll convince her. I’m getting you the fuck out of here.”

Toki’s eyes somehow opened even wider. “But… but how? We’ll be caught, we’ll…”

Skwisgaar grasped Toki by the shoulders. “I swear to you Tokes, I won’t let them touch you again. Come with me.”

Toki glanced in the direction of his glittering house before looking back to the blazing sapphire eyes of his best – only – friend.

“I trust you.”

Toki’s barely audible response hardened Skwisgaar’s resolve. He felt determination filling him like a hot drink. “I won’t let you down.”

Grasping Toki’s cold hand, Skwisgaar took off through the trees. Together, the boys ran towards the streets of Lillehammer and their new fate.

The glittering gingerbread faded away behind them.

**Author's Note:**

> Are there even wolves in Norway? I feel like that's probably the sort of thing I should look up before I write these things haha.   
> Imagine the sound of Aslaug's wrath when he notices Toki's run away..! Mwahahaha.


End file.
